As those of you that have been stalking me long enough know, Boo is currently going to a specialist disability school one day a week as a trial.

A school full of kids with all sorts of disabilities and emotional ‘disorders’.

Needless to say, in a school that caters for children AND adults there is a lot of swearing going on.

And Boo has designated himself policeman.

As those with Autism tend to do.

So now, because 15 and 16 year olds with emotional disturbances and impulse control issues take umbrage to a twelve year old man child telling them not to swear, Boo has to be kept inside at recess and lunchtime for his own protection.

My sheltered enormous toddler, whose idea of violence is wrestle on the floor, has been threatened by these boys.

To his face.

As in ‘I will fucking punch your face in’

Which starts Boo off all over again.

I try to explain to him that it is not his job to tell these kids not to swear.

I try to explain to him that being punched in the face HURTS.

But he just has no concept.

Cannot comprehend WHY he can’t tell them to stop doing the wrong thing.

Because it is the RULES.

I remind him about when he broke his arm.

When he ran face first into that wall last year.

And how much that HURT.

‘Being punched in the face hurts like that, Boo. You don’t want him to punch you in the face’

‘Nah!’ he grins at me ‘It doesn’t hurt like that’

And because he just doesn’t get the concept, he is in danger of being removed from the specialist school.

it really sucks that good kids get moved for their own protection rather than not so good kids being held in or moved to protect the good ones, disabled or not the same sort of thing seems to happen everywhere these days

I wrote a really good comment, and then somehow tapped out of it. Stupid iPad.

Anyway. I can’t really be angry at the kids for getting annoyed that a kid that huge was telling them off, but I still want to kick their arses.

I know as well as you do that Boo is more different than different. The school hasn’t seen anyone like him before, and neither have I. He’s unique, and the school doesn’t deal with unique, they deal with what’s on paper and what they know. Let’s face it, Boo is more unpredictable than anyone else could ever be, and that probably scares them.

On the other hand, it’s their fucking job to help kids like Boo. Where else do they think he can go?

It makes me sad to think anyone has to be fearful of being punched in the face. So sorry to read that.
I hope you work out what will be his course in life soon, I know it is a big weight on your shoulders. Luckily you have this fine blog to drop all your f*bombs.

I admire your Boo his forthrightness. However, in the interests of self preservation, could you tell him that the other children are there so that the teachers can teach them the proper way to behave. And he could help the teachers by writing down the infractions instead of telling the children outright. Then he could give the teacher the list at the end of the day for the teacher to deal with it (privately, without Boo’s presence obviously). Maybe for brevity he could just keep a tally of each word type?

Mine plays sheriff a lot, too, trying to make others live by the rules, he’s done it all his life and there Is.No.Way he gets that is wrong.
Good luck getting through to your fantabulous Boo, I wish we could all have some of his innocence and solid sense of what is and isn’t xxxx

And yes, there aren’t as many ASD kids there as there are at the SDS (under 55 IQ school) but SURELY they have come across this issue before? I mean fuck me dead, BOO is doing the right thing, in a way… and HE gets penalised? He is not allowed to travel on the bus because apparently it is just a cacophony of swearing so I have to do a 120k round trip. OMG SO FUCKING FRUSTRATED!

My Megan is very much like Boo. Stick to the rules and fuck the consequences. Some will ridicule, some with call you “Kiss Arse”, others with punch you in the fucking face…Good for Boo but send him to school in bubble wrap and a hockey mask.

A sucky situation for sure. My thoughts are similar to Cadi’s. I’m wondering if you could start some sort of conversation which leads to the world having many different types of people, amy of whom swear even though it’s wrong, but that’s the way they grew up so they don’t realise or care that it’s wrong. Add in that when he’s a grownup he needs to be able to accept that a lot of people do things their own way, even if that isn’t his way, even if it’s wrong. Something like that……enlist the help of his teachers? I’d like to see Boo stay at the school.

Gah. Here, it would be the other way around … those doing the rule breaking and violence threatening get to stay inside during lunch and earn back the privilege of being with their friends during lunch.
Boo is awesome!

I agree with Moo – surely it’s the school’s role to find a way to deal with a situation. That’s why it’s a special school for special kids! Just because they have’t come across anyone like him before, doesn’t give them an excuse not to cater to his needs. I don’t see how the only option left to the parent – who is not a professional educator or psychologist – is to homeschool?

I hope that you and the school can come up with a decent solution to Boo’s issue. Hang in there, Kel.

Oh I feel for you. We’ve been through similar occurrences here. I think you – and Boo – are handling it well. But it shouldn’t have to be handled, should it? One thing I know is that with a Mum like you, Boo will always be awesome!

That is so unfair 🙁 your boy sounds like a top kid =) and you sound like an awesome mum! And the school sounds backward.
I often wonder what will happen to my boy with ASD when he goes to school (and what school he will end up at). He is just freshly diagnosed (two years old), so I’ve got a while to go before I have to worry about school. But damn it must be hard especially when the school doesn’t seem to get their shit together >:-S